Emmerson, who had his parents Dr. Clinton and Patricia Emmerson with him, spoke to the room of Redlands residents and business owners about the state of California’s budget and the changes that he feels needs to be made. He was introduced by his cousin and Rotary member Dick Bartlett who spoke of him as “more powerful than a locomotive, and the driving engine of the Assembly.”

According to the surveys done by the Public Policy Institute of California, at Emmerson’s last check, the state Legislature had an approval rating of 15 percent. He got a dose of the public’s opinion when, in a recent parade in Loma Linda, sitting with his dog Hank, a woman was clearly heard over the crowd saying, “Vote for the dog.”

“Hank couldn’t be here today because he’s out campaigning,” Emmerson deadpanned, bringing laughter from the Rotarians.

Emmerson hopes that in the upcoming special session of the state Legislature, they will be able to do a complete evaluation of the state budget, find out what is working and get rid of what is not working.

He expressed his concerns about the state of California’s and its residents’ incomes.

He talked about how tax revenues have dropped, and that California collected more than a billion dollars less in capital gains taxes this year than in previous years.

“Make no mistake, times are tough in California,” he said.

The Inland Empire’s unemployment is at 9 percent, he said, and is expected to increase. Fortunately, home sales have increased, although many are still suffering, with California being second to Nevada in home foreclosures, he said.

“There’s much more work to be done,” Emmerson said. “We need to change regulation dealing with financing of homes – most of that will occur on the federal level – so that this situation does not happen again.”

Emmerson then talked about what had happened, and why the state had such large deficits year after year.

He told the Rotarians to take a good look at the ballot. The state Legislature controls 20 percent of the state’s budget, and the budget for actions can be about twice the expected cost that is written on the propositions, he said.

For example, he noted that 2006’s “Jessica’s Law” spending was higher than expected because of the rising prices of ankle bracelets and other costs.

He said that all four bonds on this year’s ballot were good ideas, but the Veteran’s Bond Act of 2008 was a good proposition to support because the funding levels would be similar to the ones on the ballot.

“We have to get California working again,” he said. He talked about his proposals: an employer’s tax credit to hire unemployed Californians; a manufacturing investment credit to help businesses purchase materials; a reduction in capital gains for businesses that invest in California; and a modification of the tax code to encourage companies to locate jobs in California.

He mentioned two devastating blows to the job market in California: Northern California’s Automobile Association of America closing three call centers and moving the jobs out of state and Toyota’s decision to not build its Prius in California, but in Mississippi, which cost almost 4,000 jobs.

Emmerson said that he had been working with Redlands City Councilman Pete Aguilar to try to bring Electrorides’ “Zero” electric truck manufacturing to Redlands. It would bring jobs and keep up Redlands’ previous history with manufacturing electric vehicles.

Emmerson feels it is important to bring electric vehicles to California. He noted that between 75 to 80 percent of Californians work within 20 miles of home, and that 26 percent of the nation’s hybrid vehicles are sold to Californians.

Emmerson also feels that reducing dependence on foreign oil and using alternative power sources will also bring more money to Californians.

After the speech, Rotarians had glowing remarks about Emmerson’s remarks.

“I was impressed by Mr. Emmerson’s bipartisanship,” said Democratic congressional hopeful Tim Prince. The visiting Rotarian is a neighbor of Emmerson’s – both have campaign headquarters in the same building.

“However, I did note that he spoke against most of the propositions and some of the propositions would implement renewable energy.”

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